The Japanese Lover

★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10

322 pages

What’s it about?

Alma Belasco is 8 years old when she flees Warsaw to stay with her aunt and uncle in San Francisco.   Alma befriends Ichimei Fukada, the Japanese son of the family gardener, and begins a 50 year love affair.  This is their story.

What did it make me think about?

How much societal norms have changed for the better.

Should I read it?

It was a quick, light, summer beach book.

A passage I marked

First of all, the Japanese could not go outside a radius of 5 miles from their homes without a special permit and had to obey a nighttime curfew from eight p.m. To six a.m.  The authorities began to raid houses and confiscate possessions; they arrested influential men who might incite treason,community leaders,company directors, teachers, pastors, and took them away to undisclosed locations; their terrified wives and children were left behind.  The Japanese had to quickly sell off whatever they owned at knockdown prices, and to close their businesses.

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